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I haven't hear of a single use case that makes me think those tools are necessary so far. Do you have a "oh shit of course" example to share with me that would

I haven't hear of a single use case that makes me think those tools are necessary so far. Do you have a "oh shit of course" example to share with me that would make me understand why Ethereum brings something valuable to the table? No jargon, just a simple use case. Explain it like you would explain the usefulness of the diesel engine to an alien > It allows to move goods, people across long distances and can be used in land vehicles both commercial and personal, boats. It can also be used in earth moving machinery for construction purposes and as power generators. Can you do that with ethereum?

mbrock 8y ago
You can send and receive dollar-denominated tokens through a p2p network using open source command-line tools without a bank account.
- holoduke 8y ago
  What if you made a mistake. Can someone help you? Is there an authority making sure noone is abusing the system? I don't believe there is real demand for your usecase. A couple of believers and anarchists are the only ones believing currently. Currently because the future might be different.
  - mbrock 8y ago
    I like a lot of things that are hard to use and only used by a handful of weirdos.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > You can send and receive dollar-denominated tokens through a p2p network using open source command-line tools without a bank account So a TAM of money launderers and people without money. Do you see why these "use cases" are laughable? You didn't replace the bank. You just created a worse version of it that works for a small segment of the population. A segment which happens to be highly uneconomical to service.
  - 0x8BADF00D 8y ago
    > So a TAM of money launderers and people without money. Do you see why these "use cases" are laughable? There are still many unbanked people in the world. I don’t think it’s a laughable use case to want to bring those that are too poor to participate in the banking system into the modern era. See Humaniq for an example of this.
    - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
      > I don’t think it’s a laughable use case to want to bring those that are too poor to participate in the banking system into the modern era I don't either. But something like M-PESA, which works (a) without a bank, (b) on cheap hardware and (c) without requiring great technical knowledge to avoid your coins getting stolen is a better fit for that problem.
    - nosuchthing 8y ago
      That's a myth often repeated in an attempt to "sell" the network as a usecase - but where is this happening in the real world? The regions with widespread poverty aren't going to be enthusiastic about the fees, and wild instability that comes with crypto database tokens, Ethereum and so on. The real use case is obviously money laundering, but everyone wants to try to spin the marketing into unrealistic areas.
  - smokeyj 8y ago
    But in principle what's your objection? Do you wake up and criticize Western Union because you don't use it? I just don't understand why people who don't want to use ETH are so emotionally invested in being mad. Y u mad tho.
  - mbrock 8y ago
    Alright, consider it useless then. I kind of like it.
x220 8y ago
You can make transactions that would normally be blocked by your country's legal system or zealous traditional payment processors.
- nosuchthing 8y ago
  This was actually something Coinbase pitched to investors - the ability for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies to bypass the American legal system, FINCEN etc [1]: Coinbase, which recently raised $75 million in seed funding from prominent financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, said one of the four biggest advantages of bitcoin is that it is "immune to country- specific sanctions," citing Russia as an example, in a PowerPoint presentation put together for investors by the company late last year. [1] https://freebeacon.com/national-security/bitcoin-exchange-highlights-to-investors-currencys-ability-to-evade-sanctions/ https://freebeacon.com/national-security/bitcoin-exchange-hi...
  - x220 8y ago
    It's a fantastic use case. I could almost guarantee that anyone who disagrees hasn't lived under an oppressive government.
    - nosuchthing 8y ago
      I could almost guarantee that anyone who thinks anarchocapitalism is an innovation has never been kidnapped, ransomed, subject to extortion, or lived under a corrupt regime supported though bribes and cronyism.
      - x220 8y ago
        Crypto isn't anarchocapitalism and that is derailing the subject. All those social ills occur under countries with regulated fiat currency.
        nosuchthing 8y ago
smokeyj 8y ago
I haven't heard of a single use case that makes me think "diesel engines" are better than manual labor. Think about it, what can an "engine" really do - that a bunch of people couldn't also do? Also take into account the externalities of diesel pollution and the cancer people will get by using diesel. So no, I don't see the value of diesel.
ojr 8y ago
you can create a lending business, deploy a token on the Ethereum blockchain and force users to pay fees and collateral with your token and lend USD, "oh shit of course", the margins and profits will be better using this route instead of the traditional way

mbrock 8y ago

You can send and receive dollar-denominated tokens through a p2p network using open source command-line tools without a bank account.

holoduke 8y ago
What if you made a mistake. Can someone help you? Is there an authority making sure noone is abusing the system? I don't believe there is real demand for your usecase. A couple of believers and anarchists are the only ones believing currently. Currently because the future might be different.
- mbrock 8y ago
  I like a lot of things that are hard to use and only used by a handful of weirdos.
JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> You can send and receive dollar-denominated tokens through a p2p network using open source command-line tools without a bank account So a TAM of money launderers and people without money. Do you see why these "use cases" are laughable? You didn't replace the bank. You just created a worse version of it that works for a small segment of the population. A segment which happens to be highly uneconomical to service.
- 0x8BADF00D 8y ago
  > So a TAM of money launderers and people without money. Do you see why these "use cases" are laughable? There are still many unbanked people in the world. I don’t think it’s a laughable use case to want to bring those that are too poor to participate in the banking system into the modern era. See Humaniq for an example of this.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > I don’t think it’s a laughable use case to want to bring those that are too poor to participate in the banking system into the modern era I don't either. But something like M-PESA, which works (a) without a bank, (b) on cheap hardware and (c) without requiring great technical knowledge to avoid your coins getting stolen is a better fit for that problem.
  - nosuchthing 8y ago
    That's a myth often repeated in an attempt to "sell" the network as a usecase - but where is this happening in the real world? The regions with widespread poverty aren't going to be enthusiastic about the fees, and wild instability that comes with crypto database tokens, Ethereum and so on. The real use case is obviously money laundering, but everyone wants to try to spin the marketing into unrealistic areas.
- smokeyj 8y ago
  But in principle what's your objection? Do you wake up and criticize Western Union because you don't use it? I just don't understand why people who don't want to use ETH are so emotionally invested in being mad. Y u mad tho.
- mbrock 8y ago
  Alright, consider it useless then. I kind of like it.

x220 8y ago

You can make transactions that would normally be blocked by your country's legal system or zealous traditional payment processors.

nosuchthing 8y ago
This was actually something Coinbase pitched to investors - the ability for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies to bypass the American legal system, FINCEN etc [1]: Coinbase, which recently raised $75 million in seed funding from prominent financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, said one of the four biggest advantages of bitcoin is that it is "immune to country- specific sanctions," citing Russia as an example, in a PowerPoint presentation put together for investors by the company late last year. [1] https://freebeacon.com/national-security/bitcoin-exchange-highlights-to-investors-currencys-ability-to-evade-sanctions/ https://freebeacon.com/national-security/bitcoin-exchange-hi...
- x220 8y ago
  It's a fantastic use case. I could almost guarantee that anyone who disagrees hasn't lived under an oppressive government.
  - nosuchthing 8y ago
    I could almost guarantee that anyone who thinks anarchocapitalism is an innovation has never been kidnapped, ransomed, subject to extortion, or lived under a corrupt regime supported though bribes and cronyism.
    - x220 8y ago
      Crypto isn't anarchocapitalism and that is derailing the subject. All those social ills occur under countries with regulated fiat currency.
      - nosuchthing 8y ago

smokeyj 8y ago

I haven't heard of a single use case that makes me think "diesel engines" are better than manual labor. Think about it, what can an "engine" really do - that a bunch of people couldn't also do? Also take into account the externalities of diesel pollution and the cancer people will get by using diesel. So no, I don't see the value of diesel.

ojr 8y ago

you can create a lending business, deploy a token on the Ethereum blockchain and force users to pay fees and collateral with your token and lend USD, "oh shit of course", the margins and profits will be better using this route instead of the traditional way